Where the Heart Lies
by Firestone Piper
Summary: What happens when Sherlock is forced to think about what he really feels for Molly? Will he admit to John how he really feels about her? And what does Molly truly think of him? *Pre-Fall*


It had been about a week since his last case. Sherlock was bored. He was immensely bored. He was currently walking around the flat and finding nothing of interest to relieve his boredom (shooting the wall again seemed like a good option) when suddenly the door to the flat opened and John Watson walked in, looking determined.

"Sherlock, we need to talk." He said, catching his breath. He had obviously ran from wherever he had came from, so this must be important.

"What about? I'm busy." said Sherlock. Which wasn't true, but he couldn't be bothered to worry about anything less than a "six".

"This is more important. It's about you." said John. Sherlock finally gave in and gave John his full attention.

"What about me exactly?"

John was relieved that he seemed to have the Consulting Detective's full attention.

"Molly. I know that you have feelings for her. You might as well admit it."

"What? Where did you get that idea?"

"What else do you call you saying Molly's name in your sleep? Just admit it!"

"I've already told you what I think about Molly several times before, although judging by the way you keep badgering me I assume your not going to drop the subject."

"I'm not! You are going to admit it this time! It's not healthy to keep emotions bottled up! I know you've had feelings for Molly since you became her partner just admit it already."

"There's nothing to admit! Molly is my partner but nothing more!"

"Save it Sherlock we both know that's not true!" said John, crossing his arms over his chest.

"What have I done that proves my so called "feelings" for Molly so much that your not willing to let this go?"

"Besides saying her name in your sleep? You smelled her hair the other day!"

"I thought she bought a new shampoo I was just confirming my suspicions!"

"Right. Sure."

"I was! People can smell other peoples hair without having romantic feelings for them!"

"No Sherlock. They really can't."

"I don't have feelings for Molly!"

"If that's the best argument you can up with it just proves my point."

"Oh shut up."

"Your being impossible!"

"No I'm not!"

"Yes, yes you are!" John said. He wasn't going to give up that easily. The two stood in a stalemate for a a minute or two.

"What does it even matter if I have feelings for Molly or not?" asked Sherlock, not seeing the big picture, which for him was an odd feeling.

"It matters because she could make you happy." said John.

"I don't need Molly to make me happy." protested Sherlock.

"Maybe not. But you need someone to keep you human."

"That's not true. I'm perfectly fine by myself." said Sherlock, speaking quickly.

"Why are you being so stubborn? Why can't you just admit that you think of Molly as a friend." John paused for a second, thinking about how to word his next argument. "Look. Molly obviously thinks of you as more than a friend, and you have feelings for her too so I'm not seeing the problem here."

Sherlock had been pacing around the flat, but now he froze. "What do you mean Molly thinks of me as more than a friend?"

"You honestly don't know?" asked John, not believing him.

"No! I've been insufferably rude to her! She couldn't have feelings for me! I've ruined any chance with her. Not that I wanted one." He added quickly, seeing the triumphant grin on John's face.

"Sure you didn't." smirked John.  
"I don't!" protested Sherlock.

"You're human. You feel sentiment even if you don't understand it or don't want to. It's unavoidable." said John.

"Yes it is." said Sherlock, too quickly to be completely convincing.

"No it's not!"

Finally, Sherlock gave up. Obviously John wasn't going to give up. "Fine. You're right. Happy?"

"Yes, actually. One thing left. You have to tell Molly."

"What? No I don't!" said Sherlock.

"Yes you do. I'm going out for a bit. I'll be back in a while." said John, walking out of the flat.

Sherlock stood there wondering where all that had come from. Why had John stormed in here, badgered him, and then walked back out merely 10 minutes later.

Then the answer came to him. He had been working with Molly this morning and he supposed he had been rude if not even more rude than usual.

He couldn't help it. Molly had been upset after, and yes he had felt bad. Maybe it was all for the best though. He had thought. Sherlock couldn't simply get that close to people. It was to dangerous.

He knew that caring for people was a weakness, and he didn't want Molly to turn up dead someday just because one of Sherlock's enemies had found out that he cared for her. That's why he had been so unwilling to admit it to John. Word would get out.

Well that and he didn't know quite what he was feeling himself. He wasn't an expert on feelings _or_ people. He supposed that John had run into Molly sometime today, and they had talked about him, probably because she was still upset from that mornings "rudeness" episode and John, being the polite man that he was, had asked her how her day was going.

Yes, that had to be it. Deciding that he needed a walk to clear his mind, Sherlock walked out of the flat and down the street, trying to push Molly out of his mind. It wasn't working. He couldn't quite seem to forget what John said earlier about Molly being in love with him.

He should be happy but instead he was slightly scared. What should he do? For once, he was clueless. Looking down at the ground, he didn't realize there was a person in front of him until he ran right into her.

Looking up to see who it was, he found himself face to face with Molly Hooper herself. His mind raced a mile a minute as he tried to think of an acceptable thing to say. He noticed her cheeks turning bright pink as she stuttered an apology.

"Oh it's alright Molly. It was my fault anyway I wasn't looking where I was going." He wasn't going to point out that SHE couldn't have been looking at where she was going either.

"Right. Well, see you later." said Molly, already beginning to walk away.

"Wait!" Sherlock called after her, jogging to catch up with her.

"What?" asked Molly. Sherlock could tell from her tone that she was still upset with him over this morning's incident.

"I wanted to apologize. You know, for this morning." Sherlock said awkwardly. He wasn't used to saying 'sorry' especially not to someone he had just admitted he had feelings for.

Molly was surprised. "Oh, that's alright." she said. Here he was, actually apologizing! That wasn't like Sherlock at all. Maybe John had finally gotten to him and he was starting to become more human? What ever the reason, Molly was glad he had apologized.

"That you for apologizing though." she added, smiling. Sherlock couldn't help himself from smiling back. What was wrong with him? Why was Molly making him do things like this? Smiling like a school girl was beneath him and he knew it.

"Your welcome." he answered, starting to walk away. Molly Hooper was going to be the death of him.


End file.
